Method and machine for delivering boards



June 19, 1928. 1,674,319

A. E. CRANSTON METHOD AND MACHINE FOR DELIVERING BOARDS Filed Oct. 27, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR June 19, 1928.

1,674,319 A. E. CRANSTON v v mmaou AND momma FOR DELIVERING BOARDS Filed Oct. 27,' 1925 2 S heetsPSheet 2 a; 96 a .9? Z V 99 Cal! v Patented June 19, 1928.

UNITED STATES ALBERT E. CRANST'ON, or SPOKANE; WASHINGTON, ASSIGNOB of ONE-HALF reeme I M N-r o FIcE.

' J. GERRARD, OizSAN FRANerseo, 'CALiFORNiA.

' METHon AND MACHINE FOR DELIVERING BOARDS} Application filed October 27, 1923. Serial No. G'5,256.

p This invention relates to improvements in methods and in mechanism for delivering boards. i I

Although the device of my invention is not Wholly so restricted, still, it is primarily designed to accomplish certain definite pu'r- I poses and functions in onnection with and prelimina'r' to the production of a certa n product it 1Cl1 is, made up from materials havin characteristics requirin handlin oi the materials in a manner to compensate for the peculiar nature of the latter.

hly invention is especially designed for,

be hereinafter describ d and are dealt with l in the machine, as sets, and the sets of boar'ds are retained in assembled relation through out their passage through the machine.

3 Specifically spealrin'g, the sets of boards are relation. p

Although certain operations on the sets of boards are intended to be performed w hile said sets are negotiatin thismaehine, which operations are not shown or descr bed,fb'ecause-they would he aggregative to this ma chine, still, my present invention hastedo with novel means forno't only maintaining predetermined segregation of the sets. of boards, but also, for ali ning the boards of the sets While they are segregated and preliminary to subsequent and further epera-' tions thereon With Which this case has nothing othervvi'se'to do. p

I will next describe one form of the device of my invention which I think is best adapted forthe foregoing specialized service, and will hereinafter particularly point out in the claims the specific features of noveltythereof. e

In the drawings 2 I I 7 Fig.1, is a plan view of the device of my inventien.

at all times in loose or unconnected parallel Fig. 'isJfa sectio al vievv eh l e-e242 of Fi .1, ieekin tewerd the top er the sheet. a

Fig. 3, is a sectional Vi w 09.11118 3L3 of Fig. 1 looking to the right of said .viievv an end view looking fronithe 1 right of Fig. 3.

. sis lepiringtoward the left of Fig.3;

sectional View on line 5-e Fig. 6, is 'a sectional view on line 6 er Fig. 1 and Fig. 7 is aeee'tieiieif'vi ew en the line 6'-6 of Fig. 1, l'ooliin'gto the left-of the figure.

Like characters e'f reference designate similar parts throughout the. different fig ur'es of the dr wings. I i

In the form shown myinvention includes aboard alining tie, having 'fiat table body 1, provi'd'edi'vith a delivery en-"d "2 andhaving slots 3, therein. Below table 1 is a "cross head 'eem risih' longitudinal 111E151- bers 4e, slidable in .guic es 5, and connected \vith 'cr'oss braces 6. lit the rear end 7, of the table, the members 4, are connected with 'a bar 8, and a pitman'9, is pivotedat 10,

to said bar. The remaining end 1 1, of said pitman is pivoted to a. crank disc 12, mounted on the upper end of a shaft: 13, that 'is journalled in ahearihgie. O'n 'the lovver end of said shaft 13,= isa bevel gear 15 \vhi'ch meshes with bevel gear 1B, onfa. counter;

shaft 17, suitably j-eu rnalled i'ri'siippo i ting frame members 18 and'19. The remaining 1 end oi? shaft 17, has a sprocketWheel 20,?

over which chain 21 istrai'hed, said eaten loeing trained everepreehetwheel 22; mounted on a carrier shaft-23, which is suitably j u'rnalled in member-e18 and This carrier sh'aift may constitute the main; drive haft wherete power ma be applied in an desired wayat 24. Mounted on shaitee,

are ear ier sp ocket wheels "25 ended-over -which the intake laps v of 'endiess carrier chains 27 and 28, are: trained, and which endless carrier vvill hereinafter bejt'erhi 'd a-earrier, when broadly referred "to; 1 pro- 'vid'e U-shaped guide su ports 29 and 30 for the chains 27 and 28, i'espeetively, and on that side of the eer'rier-reme'te t eir the intake side 31, I provide aguide liner-32,

the bottom 33Xthereof, being preferably flush with the tops of su port guides 2'9 and 30. This guide liner adapted to enie ends of thebearde delivered e e y t onto the-carrier, as will be later deathbed.

On the intake side of the carrier designated as the intake side, and suitably disposed beyond the feeding rolls, to be later described,

is shifting-liner 33' having a bent shifting end 34 which is suitablyreduced in size Y and'arranged to project sufficiently between the rolls to engage the right hand ends of chains 27 and 28, respectively. Said follow- 40,,of the follower, projects sufficiently to er sare frecessed 317 37 .and 38,to clear the guides 29 and 3t), and;the central portions. of said followers are increased-in heighth-as indicated at 39, for a purposewhichwill presently appear. The normally upper edge engage the boards but is below the .tops

thereof, the followers being arranged to engage the boards laterally thereof.

Iqhave ,provided m'eans for lifting the foremost endsof the delivered boards to free them from interference with the guide 29 and chain, 27,v until after the delivered boards have been deposited onto the carrier. As shown, said means consists of a plate 41, having a downwardly curved end 42, to

escape the approaching followers. As shown iniFig. 6, the intake side of plate 41 is pivoted at 13, to any fixed part, and the other side is normally urged upwardly by means such asa spring 44. To limit upwardmovement of said plate, the latter is provided with a lug 45, adapted toengage the bottom of guide 30. As will be seen/in Fig. 6, the

foremost endLG, of the boardlfliselevated free from possible. engagement with guide v u I axes substantially parallel with the length r 29, as the board is being advanced in the direction of length, as will be later de-- scribed, y I will next revertto the board aliningtable. and describe the manner and means of .The table includes a front advancing thesets of boards from a pile or stack onto said carrier.

. which preferably extends across the delivery end -2, of.the table, with the lower edge 49 'suffieientlyelevated to permit of the thickest random thickness. board to freely pass beneath said plate.

Said plate may be adjust- ,iably anchored in any desired manner, asfor ztinstancei by means of straps 50 and $51, so

a "lateral positions on the table.

edge 54, is insufficient clearance from table -1, to permit of movement of table feeding thatthe plate may be secured. in the desired position. I lengthwise ofv the table rearwardly front A side liner plate 52, extends plate48 and may be secured to the top of thelatter, as indicated at 52, and by a strap "53?, to the table 1,.in a manner to permit of said side plate 52, being adjusted to different The lower means beneath the same, as will presently appear. A stop plate 55, which may be seliner plate 48' cured to side liner plate 52, serves to arrest any rearward movement of the stack of boards on retraction of said table feeding means,and this stop plate may be adjustably secured, as at 56, to said plate 52, to be adjusted lengthwise of the latter.

My improved table board feeding means, as shown, consists of a feeding bar 57, which is adapted to slide on top oftable 1, and which is suitably connected by screws or bolts 58,.through' slots 3, with members 41-, of the cross head, previously described." The crank disc 12, imparts a fixed stroke to feeder bar 57, in any event, and if longer boards than those shown at A, are to be fed, then the bar 57, is .adjust.ed ,rearwardly or to the right of Fig. '1, into any one of the holes 59, in members 4. Therefore, it will beseen that I have provided a reciprocating feeding mechanism including a feeding member having a reciprocating stroke of a fixed length, and adapted to be adjusted to alter its starting and stopping positions in accordance with the length of boards to be fed; Inasmuch as the bar 57, feedsthe boards A, from the bottom of the stack or pile, I will hereinafter refer to thelsame as an under-feeding meansor mechanism.

This underfeeding meansi is adapted to cooperate with aboard advancing mechanism, the function of the latter being quickly to advance a setof fed boards across and onto the carrier, heretofore described.

' My improved advancing means consists, as shown, of coacting feeding or advancing rolls 60 and 61,. which are shown disposed between the under-feeding means and the carrier, said rolls being disposed with their the upper lap of the fixed bearings 66 and 67, mounted on the.

machine frame, and between. these bearings is a pinion 68. On the outer end of said shaftG l, is a bevel gear 69, meshing with bevel gear 70, on shaft 71, journalled in bearing 72,1'ix'ed on the machine frame. On the lower end of shaft 71, is a bevel-gear 73,

" which" meshes with bevel gear 74- on shaft '75, mounted in bearings 76 and 77. A sprocket 78, is mounted on shaft 75, and a chain .79, is trained about sprocket 78, and a sprocket 80, the latter being mounted on drive shaft 23. Thus I have disclosed the mannerin which power is applied to posi- 7 stroke.

the yielding sections 92 retract, and then the rolls take advancing hold of the boards and because the surface speed of the rolls is in excess of the speed of travel of bar 57, there. can be no interference between the two feeding means as the faster operating rolls pull the boards away from bar 57 before the latter has completed its. feeding 7 As the lower set is advanced. from beneath the stack, the latter descends onto table 1, and bar 57, and the stop 55, will be adjusted into such position that retraction of bar 57, back to a startingposition, will not shift the board stack away from engagement with plate 48, and the bar 57, will be in the position shown in F 1, ready to feed another set of boards.

The rolls 60 and 61 rapidly advance the boards, or. rather a whole set of boards,

transversely of the carrier and into substantially the position shown by the board in Fig. .1. The plate .41, prevents interference of the front or foremost fed ends of the boards with guide 29, or chain 27, by lifting the forward ends of the boards slightly, as shown. The arrangement and timing are such that almost immediately after a set of .boards has beenadvanced across the carrier,

1 plate 41, the latter will be depressedby the edge 39, of the follower, thereby'allowing the set of'boards to rest on the support uides 29 and 30, and be advanced thereon by the follower.

At this point, it is desired to emphasize the very great importance of the change of direction of movement of the sets of boards fron'rthe direction imparted thereto by rolls 60 and 61, to the-direction imparted. by the carrier. I In the first place, the followers are spaced apart a slightly greater extent than the aggregate width of a set of boards so that the sets will not only be retained segregated, as they are advanced by the carrier, but so that they can be advanced. between groove formers for forming grooves in the ends of the boards, and subsequently. presenting said ends for entrance therein of tenoned cleats. Thus, it will be seen that the function of thecarrier is not merely to advance boards delivered to it, in a heltershelter manner, but in an orderly manner with the sets of boards intact, and one set in separated relation f om another set. I

I It will also be noted that the boards of the sets are in loose parallel relation when delivered by the rolls, onto the carrieiyhence,

by having the carrier travel in a direction substantially at right angles to the direction in which the sets of boards are fed onto and across the carrier, the followers of the latter, engaging the set laterally thereof, act to hold the boards in parallel relation, the

slight friction of the forward boards on the guides 29 and 30, being suflicient to hold the forward boards of the set, back in engage ment with the rear board engaged by the follower.

Now it is clear that the set of boards, at

this point, are in parallel relation, but as they have not reached the alining means,

the endsof the boards of the set, may'not into alined relation, the carrier advances the boards between devices for forming grooves in the ends of the boards, and later, nailing strips are inserted into the grooved ends, all of which is not herein shown, but is set forth to bring out the importance of themachine, as hereinbefore set forth.

It is believed that my invention will be fully understood from the foregoing description, and while I have herein shown and described one specific form ofmyinvention, I do notwish to be limited thereto except for such limitations as the claims'may im- 1. In a board delivering mechanism, a stacking table having. front and side liner plates and adapted to receive a stack of superimposedsets of loose boards of random thickness and uniform length with the stack inendwise abuttingrelation against said front liner and in sidewise abutting relation against said side liner, the lower edge of said. front liner plate being sufficiently elevated with respect to said table to form a throat for passage therethrough of the lowermost set of boards, a carrier running transversely of said table and having followers for engaging the loose sets of boards laterally thereof, feeding rolls for advancing a set of loose boards inthe direction of their yersely of the end of the stacked boards and having followers for laterally'engaging each loose set of boards, feeding rolls for advancing a set of loose boards in the direction of their length onto said carrier, andmeans for advancing the lowermost set of loose hoards from said stack in the direction of their length into and between said feeding rolls.

3. In a board delivering mechanism, a stacking table adapted to receive a stack of superimposed sets of loose boards, a carrier running transversely of the end of the stacked boards, a guide liner on that side of said carrier remote from the intake side, feeding rolls for advancing a set of loose uniform length boards in the direction of their length onto said carrier laterally of the length thereof, and means extending between said rolls and along said carrier for advancing the loose boards into endwise engagement against said guide liner as said boards are advanced by said carrier.-

4. In a board delivering mechanism, a carrier having an intake side and a guide liner on that side of the carrier remote from the intake side thereof, means for feeding a set of loose uniform length boards in parallel relation and in the direction of their length onto said carrier laterally of the direction of travel thereof and onto the same from the intake side thereof, and means extending along the intake side of said carrier for shifting the delivered boards into endwise engagement with said guide liner as said boards are being advanced by said carrier.

5. In a board delivering mechanism, a carrier, means for feeding a set of loose uniform length boards in parallel relation and in the direction of their length across and onto said carrier, and mechanism for alining the ends of the delivered boards as the latter are advanced by said carrier.

boards in the direction of their length across and onto said carrier while the latter is running, and means for lifting the foremost ends of the boards free from interference with the running carrier as the boards are being advanced onto the latter.

8. In a board delivering mechanism, a board alining table adapted to receive sets of uniform length and loose random thickness boards in parallel relation with the sets of boards in superimposed stacked form,

means for advancing a set of boards in the direction of their length away from said stack, and carriermechanism engaging said advanced boards laterally and moving them in a'direction angular to their first direction of advance to hold said boards in lateral reboardsof different length into operative rela tion with said rolls. I

10. The herein-described method of delivering boards, which consists, in successively advancing sets of loose boards in parallel relation and of random widthand thickness in the direction of the length ofsuch boards from a stack thereof and retaining said boards of each set in substantially their ini- I tial relation throughout advancing movement of said boards, in successively receiving and delivering such advanced 'sets of boards laterally of the length thereof with the sets segregated andwith the boards of each set in compact lateral relation, and in endwise shifting the boards of each set as the latter are being delivered to dispose the ends of said boards in flush relation. 1

In testimony that I claim the foregoin as my own, I hereby affix my signature.

ALBERT E. oRANsToN, 

